The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) threat cannot be defeated without the in-depth study of COVID-19 by scientists. Wang Yixin, a post-90s graduate from Environment Science (ENVS) Programme at UIC, who continued her PhD study in Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU Med), has been conducting scientific research and hopes to unlock the rest of the novel coronavirus. Yixin promptly took part in the study of novel coronavirus with her research team. The research team published their findings in an authoritative academic journal in infectious disease research for people to have a more robust understanding of COVID-19.
Wang Yixin
Fighting against the virus
Wang Yixin is currently a third-year PhD student at HKU Med of Microbiology. She focuses on researching viruses of human respiratory infectious diseases. Since 30 January 2020, Yixin and her fellows have returned to HKU State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases (SKLEID).
Yixin at HKU Med
The lab's faculty and students started their comparative study among the novel coronavirus and other coronaviruses, such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV.
Yixin explained that HKU led a research frontier and gained from past experiences to conduct further research. However, it is still a considerable challenge in the face of the novel virus. Before the experiment, the research team spent significant time preparing the experiment to reduce affecting factors.
However, the experiment was not always smooth, with different problems occurring every day, which brought her a feeling of freshness. Yixin believes that all problems can be solved if one can break through the thinking limitation. She tries to seek a new direction when facing dilemmas.
According to the research team, the replication rate of a novel coronavirus in human lungs is 3.2 times higher than that of SARS-CoV. However, the people infected by the novel coronavirus would take a longer time to get the inflammation with the slower immune response against the pathogen. This research result has been published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, a journal of infectious diseases in April 2020, and has been cited approximately 230 times.
Yixin (front row middle) with HKU teachers and classmates
Afterwards, Yixin and her teammates carried out another research on the impacts that novel coronavirus has on human intestines. They reported their findings on an SCI journal called Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology on 30 September 2020.
Yixin thought that the field of fundamental research was far from real daily life previously. During the study of COVID-19, Yixin saw the value and significance of basic medical research for society and gradually found her research interests.
From UIC to Scientific Research
Wang Yixin graduated from ENVS Programme in UIC in 2014 and continued her further study in Master of Science in Environmental Management at HKU. Yixin was initially exposed to scientific experiments in UIC during her four-year study at UIC. She gained some opportunities to design experiment projects independently. In the senior year, she learned about cell culture for her final year project. Her final year project measured water's copper contents with a certain kind of bacterial. Yixin worked as an assistant in the environmental science lab. She explains that she started to have a preliminary and enlightened image for scientific research from those experiences.
Yixin (third from left) at UIC
After completing her master's degree, Yixin found herself interested in medical research. She decided to hand in her application to HKU SKLEID and passed the interview, becoming a research assistant.
According to Yixin, the English competence and presentation skills developed at UIC made her stand out for the laboratory research assistant position. She explains that the selection was very competitive since several candidates had already published academic papers. However, she still gained admission from the interviewers with her fluent English. Yixin mentions how she benefited from the abilities that she had gained at UIC.
Yixin (first from left in the back row) with former teachers and classmates at the UIC alumni gathering
During the one-year work as a research assistant, Wang got commended by her tutors and passed the probation. After that, she was also admitted into the PhD degree programme of HKU Med, which marks her getting into the stride of scientific research.
According to Wang Yixin, the prevention and cure of viruses of human respiratory infectious diseases are an essential field of research. At the same time, the COVID-19 has also brought many new research subjects. Yixin states how she had prepared to overcome the difficulties and challenges that she would meet in the future.
From MPRO
Reporter: Du Jiewen
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Zhang Fan
